Dark Revenge
by KnuxfanEO
Summary: Just when it seems like everything is gonna work out, it falls apart. Knuckles is kidnapped and tortured by the remenants of the Legion, and its a mad rush to find him and save his life! PG-13 to be safe. Sequel to Station Square Saga (Which was a sequel.
1. Default Chapter

HURT…

**Author's Note**: Hey, I didn't disappear after all! Sorry it took so long to get this up. Had trouble finishing it, and then there was a bug or somethin' on the site. You all forgive me, right? Cool (Or not, depending on your answer). Well, here you go. Enjoy!

"_I don't know what to think anymore. I'm so scared now. So much has happened in such a short time. 'Sob' Just when things were going to be perfect…'Sniff' I'm getting ahead of myself. I should probably start from the beginning. It all started when he disappeared…"_

"This is ENN: Echidna News Network. It's been two days and still no word or sign of the Guardian. The EST has been searching since he was declared missing yesterday morning after going unseen for twenty-four hours. Many of the citizens believe that he has simply abandoned his duties and has fled into seclusion. Constable Remington, chief of the EST, has failed to issue a statement just yet, but assures that the EST are doing everything they can to find the young Guardian. In other news…"

"This is Shadow calling in. No sign of him yet. I'll give it one more look over, then I'll head back and rendezvous with you," Shadow said into a small walkie-talkie watch. "Alright, Shadow. Don't take too long," Espio's voice said. Shadow broke contact, then looked out at the wilderness around him. The Floating Island amazed him. It was like the Garden of Eden, floating in the sky above the unworthy planet of Mobius. However, he hadn't been given the opportunity to become better aquatinted with his new home. Knuckles went missing the day after they arrived back from Station Square. "Knuckles…where are you, my friend?" Shadow whispered to himself as he dashed into the forest to continue his search.

Mighty sighed as he shut his cell phone. Espio had just relayed Shadow's message. 'I don't get it! Where could he have gone?" Mighty asked Vector, who was sitting next to him on a park bench. They had been searching all day and decided to take a short break. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the sound of children playing could be heard all over. "I dunno, man. It's weird. We saw him the night before. He didn't seem like he was gonna split on us. 'Seemed happy to be home if ya ask me," Vector replied with a long sigh. "Julie-Su hasn't been taking this too well," Mighty said, receiving a raised brow from his alligator amigo. "Huh? Why's that?" he asked. "Rouge was telling me that she wants to be back with Knux," Mighty replied, "They were talking about it the night we got back, right before he went MIA on us." "We'll find 'im. We just gotta get a clue, or a hint, or somethin'" Vector said, trying to be optimistic. Mighty sighed again as he stood up and said, "Well, we won't get anywhere sitting around like this. Let's go check his place again and see if we can find anything."

"Julie-Su! Where'd you go?" Rouge yelled out as she walked down the pier. She turned a corner to find her echidna friend sitting on the end of a dock, staring into space. Rouge quietly walked up and sat next to her. "You okay?" she asked. Julie-Su was silent for a moment, then responded, "This is where I first kissed Knuckles a few weeks ago." Rouge looked at Julie-Su sympathetically and said, "Don't worry! We'll find him. I promise." "Everything was so close to being perfect. We could have been back together and happy again. I don't understand why everything between me and him needs to go wrong," Julie-Su said as a tear fell from her eye. Rouge put her hand on Julie-Su's shoulder and said, "Come on. Maybe Sally and the other's have heard something." Julie-Su wiped the tear away as she nodded and the two friends hurried off.

Sally and the Freedom Fighters had finally accepted the fact that nothing ever goes their way. They just get back from Station Square and don't even get to enjoy coming home because their friend goes missing. "Well, he isn't in Robotipolis," Sonic said as he came in the door. "Sally sighed in frustration as she slammed her hands on the desk next to her. "Come on! Where the Hell did you go, already!!!" she yelled as she started crying. Sonic came over and hugged her as he said, "Sal, come on. It's gonna be fine. He probably just wanted some time alone to get his head straight and figure things out for himself. He hasn't exactly been himself lately." Sally nodded in agreement as she broke the embrace. "That's true. I just hope he isn't hurt. Or what if the Legion-" "What Legion?" Tails asked sarcastically. "Little guy's right. There is no Legion anymore. All those Legionnaires are jailed, Dimitri is dead, and the rest are probably calling it quits!" Sonic boasted. Sally smiled a little, but she was still unsure.

"Sally! We got a transmission from the Floating Island!" Rotor said. "Patch it," Sally responded as the monitor came on, revealing Julie-Su's worried face. "Hey, Julie-Su. How are things over there?" Sally asked. "We still can't find him. I guess you've had no luck, either," Julie-Su muttered. Sally sighed and said, "To tell you the truth, we don't have the man-power to run a quick, thorough search. The only ones searching are the Freedom Fighters. No one else wants to help. Especially after the Eclipse thing. A lot of people still hate him." Julie-Su's head drooped. She knew it was no use. "Hey, there! Don't look so blue! That's my job!" Sonic said with a smile. "Yeah. You're looking really shaky," Sally commented, before the screen started wavering, "Actually, you are shaking up. We're losing your signal." "It is your equipment? We're using Haven's, and theirs is hi-tec," Julie-Su asked. "No. Our stuff is fine," Sally said before losing the signal and receiving static. "That's odd…What's wrong?" Rotor asked himself as he and Tails got to work to seek out the problem.

Suddenly, something came up on the screen. It was a dark room with dim lights. In the middle of the screen stood a silhouette, and the only sound was the sound of a voice chuckling. The chuckle caused the Freedom Fighters to quiver in fear, for they knew that laugh, and at this point, it was a chilling memory. A memory that left many scars. "I…I thought he was gone…" Amy muttered as she hid behind Bunnie. "Me too, Amy. Me too," Bunnie replied.

They weren't the only ones receiving this strange signal. On the Floating Island, Julie-Su and Rouge, along with the Brotherhood, were watching the same signal. And they were not the only ones, either. In King Acorn's castle, in Echidnapolis, everywhere. Every screen was turned on to this same broadcast. The purpose, unknown.

Station Square was just getting over the havoc caused by the Dark Legion's assault on the city. Many were taking time to enjoy the finer points in life…

"WOOO!!! YEAH!!! SUPER BOWL!!!" Todd yelled as he jumped over the couch. The rest of the Ravagers ran in, screaming and yelling as they all sat down. "We got the stuff?" Steve asked. "Fifteen bags of pork rinds, soda-drink hats, and foam pointing fingers! We are SET!!!" Ken exclaimed. Todd picked up the remote and turned on the television as they all screamed, "YEAH!!! SU-PER BOWL!!! SU-PER BOWL!!! SU-PER BOWL!!! SU-" They stopped when the strange signal came up on the TV. "This isn't the Super Bowl," Nick said. "Yeah. Damn infomercials," Todd replied as he clicked the remote several times, only to find that the channel wasn't changing. "It's on every channel?!?! What evil from Hell doth cause this injustice?!?!" Luke yelled. They all had a mind to whine and complain, but the voice silenced them instantly.

"Greetings, citizens of Mobius. I am…the great Dimitri," the metallic echidna exclaimed as he stepped into the light, revealing himself. So many were in shock. He was supposed to be dead. "This is DEFINITLY not…the Super Bowl," Todd said. Randy slowly turned his head and yelled," We established this…TEN MINUTES AGO!!!" Dimitri went back to speaking, so they turned their attention to the screen. "I suppose you are wondering how I am alive. Well, the Dark Legion is the most technologically advanced organization on the planet, so teleporters are well within our limits. Now, I am guessing you wish to know why I am speaking to you all today. Yes, I said all of you. This is being broadcasted on every channel on every screen on this planet," Dimitri said with a proud chuckle. However, his chuckle vanished, and his humored mood became angered. "Unfortunately, this is a stretch for the Legion at this point. My empire crumbles around me! I am left with nothing but a handful of loyal troops! I have lost almost everything!" Dimitri paused for a moment, then chuckled again. "But, I am able to get the satisfaction of my revenge, and, at the same time, I can bring satisfaction to those on Mobius who have sought justice over a very serious matter. To explain, let me first introduce you to…Knuckles the Echidna," Dimitri said as he stepped aside and revealed Knuckles.

At first, no one was sure what to think. They couldn't be certain that he was even alive. His wrists were clamped together, and a strong chain fastened the restraint to the ceiling, which he hung limply from. His feet were also clamped together as they hung about two feet from the floor. He just hung there in silence. "Wake him," Dimitri said as a Legionnaire walked up to Knuckles and punched him across the face. Knuckles stirred as he moaned and opened his eyes. "Wh…where the h-heck am I? D…Dimitri??? N-no…it…it c-can't b-be," Knuckles muttered. Dimitri chuckled and said, "Yes. Glad to see you too. As I was saying, it was this young echidna that destroyed your homes, killed your families and friends, and threatened your very lives! And after all that, King Acorn releases him free of charge! This injustice will not go unchecked. He shall pay for his crimes," Dimitri said as he walked next to Knuckles. "And I have nothing to fear from him. We are using the same drug from Station Square to nullify his powers and make him the weak coward that he is!" Knuckles chuckled slightly and said, "F-funny…I re-remember you hi-iding behind Sh-shadow back in St-tation Sq-quare." Dimitri frowned and snapped his fingers as he stepped away. "Now, Knuckles…you shall receive the punishment you deserve. And all of Mobius can watch and be pleased with your suffering."

Several Legionnaires surrounded him and began to pound away at him. Knuckles grunted with every blow. Some came in kicks, others in quick jabs to the stomach. He was being used as a punching bag. Dimitri smiled in new satisfaction, and turned back to the viewers. "I am sure you are wondering how Knuckles came to be in our hands. We'll, let us turn to the tape and see," Dimitri said with an evil grin.

The screen turned to a city street, lit only by the streetlights on it. Knuckles stepped out of an apartment building with an odd expression on his face. There was a smile, but his eyes read great regret. Suddenly, a voice began to call for help, and Knuckles sprang down a dark alleyway. He short stopped at the sight of Xenin, who said, "It's been a while, hasn't it?" Knuckles growled and said, "I don't know how you survived, but-" "No, no, no! I wouldn't do that. You are going to come with me and my troops, or else," "Or else what?" Knuckles spat. "Or else Julie-Su will die. Right now. By the hands of one of our snipers." Knuckles froze. After a few seconds, he lowered his fists and his head and muttered, "…Go ahead." Xenin waved his hand, and five Legionnaires ran over and grabbed Knuckles, who didn't even bother to defend himself. They punched him in the stomach, held his chest against the wall, and clamped his wrists together as they injected a needle into his arm. They backed away as he slowly staggered, wavering around, and fell to the ground, his hat floating off to the side.

Julie-Su looked down at her hands, where she held his hat. She found it the day he was declared missing in an alley about a block away from her apartment. "And that, fair people, is how this all began," Dimitri said as the Legionnaires continued to beat Knuckles behind him. Dimitri snapped his fingers again and they backed away as he stepped up to Knuckles. Knuckles was panting heavily, and under his red fur dark bruises could be faintly seen. "This is going to continue. Every day, at this time, on every channel, on every screen on the planet. I will see revenge for my Legion, and the world will see it's revenge for the evils you have done," Dimitri said, as he came up to Knuckles' ear and continued, loud enough for the audience to hear, "You know what I mean, right? All those people you killed…all those children. You are lower than dirt, you twisted, demented monster. You will pay." Knuckles flinched as he heard this. He shut his eyes tightly as he moaned to try to block Dimitri, but it wasn't working. He shuttered as he lowered his head, and Dimitri chuckled. "So see you tomorrow, then," Dimitri said with a malicious smile as the screens went blank.

All across Mobius there was silence. No one knew what to think. Sally began to cry as she threw her face into Sonic's chest. Sonic was mortified, and couldn't find words to calm her. Tails was trying to comfort Amy, but she was scared out of her mind. Rotor stared at the screen as Antoine put his arms around Bunnie. On the Floating Island, not much was different. Julie-Su began to cry onto Rouge's shoulder as Rouge shed tears of her own. Locke felt tears trickle down his face as the Brotherhood stood in silence. Lara-Le had fainted, and Wyn was on the phone calling a hospital. Mighty, Shadow, and the Chaotix continued to stared at the big screen TV in the square. Mighty cringed as Shadow put his hand on his shoulder. Vector and Espio looked at each other with shocked faces. Ray had turned away from the screen, not wanting to look.

The Ravagers sat on their couch in silence. Nick clenched his fists, growled in frustration, and flipped over the coffee table in front of them, startling the others. He turned to them with a look of great anger on his face. There was a deep, almost dark hatred in his eyes. "Todd, get the Floating Island on the line! Everyone else, suit up! I don't care what we have to do!!! We'll check every club, every warehouse, beat up every two-bit punk in this city if we have to, but we are gonna find him!!!" Nick turned and began to run down the hallway to his room to get his costume as the others stumbled behind. They had never seen him like this before. Not since Gramps died. He had even scared Randy, which took a lot to do. But he was right. They had to find him.

Sally and the Freedom Fighters burst into King Acorns throne room as the King stood to greet them. "Dad! It's Dimitri! He-" "I know! I know! Don't worry. I will assemble my secret service and my troops. We will fan out and find him. This madness will not be allowed to continue!" the King announced. Sonic turned to Rotor and said, "Call up our pals on the Floating Island. Tell them to come here so we can figure things out." "Sure thing!" Rotor replied as he hurried out of the room.

Not too long afterwards, Shadow, Julie-Su, Rouge, the Chaotix, and the Brotherhood exited their vessel to be greeted by the Freedom Fighters. The Brotherhood were accompanied by Lara-Le and Wyn. Sally ran up to Julie-Su and hugged her as they got off, saying that everything would be okay. She opened up Nicole and played back a message they had received a little earlier.

On Nicole's screen, the familiar face of DJ popped up. "BZZT-Hey! Sup, y'all! It's nice talkin' to ya, though I wish the circumstances were better. Look, we're doin' everything we can over here. We've already searched most of the city. Nothin's comin' up, though. If we find anything, we'll give you guys a holler. Gotta go. Later." The screen went blank, and Sally flipped Nicole closed. "They did say they'd be there for us when we needed them," Rouge said with a smile.

King Acorn had called for a gathering of the people of his kingdom. In front of Castle Acorn, there were thousands of creatures awaiting the King. The King stepped out from the front doors of the castle, accompanied by the Freedom Fighters and their allies from the Floating Island. He stood before the people, took a deep breath, and began, "My people…an atrocity is taking place. One of our allies is being held captive, and being subjected to brutality. You have seen it yourselves, and so I ask of you…please aid us in our search."

There was a dead silence. The King expected this. "I am aware of what has happened in the past few weeks. What he has been involved in. But still I ask of you, help us set him free." Still silence. There was a strange atmosphere around them. The people were still angry about Eclipse. After all, who wouldn't be? He had threatened to kill them all. The King sighed and lowered his head. He couldn't force them to do it. He felt a tapping on his shoulder and turned to see Lara-Le, who requested to speak. He bowed and stepped aside. Lara-Le looked out at the huge masses before her and said, "Please…help find my son. He's not evil. He's not a killer. He's a good boy! It was Dimitri that wanted to enslave you, and now he has my son, my child, and he's hurting him…" Lara-Le began sobbing as she began begging, "Please…I beg of you…as a mother…help find my Knuckles."

"Look no further, m'am," a voice called out from the crowd. The crowd cleared to reveal the Ravagers, standing as defiantly as ever. "He's not in Station Square, so we figured we come play hide-and-seek over here instead," Freezie said. Lara-Le smiled, but frowned when she looked out at the crowd, tears in her eyes. "Is there no one else who will answer a mother's cry for help?" Once again silence, but finally, people began to clap and cheer. Lara-Le smiled at their sudden change of heart. "Now…let us find your son," King Acorn said to her.


	2. PAIN

PAIN…

That evening was very discouraging. They had searched all day long and found nothing. Not a trace of him anywhere. They searched Dimitri's mountain fortress, which was left vacant, and every other possible hideout location within a fifty-mile radius. Wherever Dimitri was keeping him, it was well hidden.

The teenage friends were sitting around a campfire, trying to think of what to do next. The Ravagers told about their search in Station Square, which was a dead end. Sonic had gone to Robotipolis, which was another dead end, and he wasn't on the Floating Island either. While they were talking, Julie-Su stood up and went to walk away, which caused everyone to look up and stop talking. "Hey! Where're you going?" Amy asked. "…Nowhere," Julie-Su replied as she walked away. They all watched her leave and then looked at each other. "Her aura is quite different from when last I saw her," Vipes stated. "Yes. I see sorrow, as before, but this time…I see longing, and shame," F.C. replied. Rouge explained what she had discussed with her when they got back to the Floating Island, which left them with a sense of great pity. "Bummer. I can't imagine how she must feel right now," Morph said. "We'll find him…Then those two can get back together and everything can be all 'happily ever after'," Sonic said, trying to brighten the situation. "Yeah…" Sally said with a sigh.

They dreaded the next morning. They hadn't slept at all the night before. All they could do was wonder what Dimitri was going to do today. They sat in silence, sitting in front of the monitor in King Acorn's throne room. They really would have admired the room if they weren't in fear of the next half-hour. It was made of sky blue stone, with red carpeting. Hanging a foot above King Acorn's chair was a large, flat-screen monitor. All was quiet until all the screens came on, and Dimitri's laugh filled their ears. "Welcome back! Today, we are going to have a little fun. Yesterday was simple beating, so today we are going to get instrumental. Are you ready, Knuckles?" Dimitri asked, turning to the dangling Knuckles. "B-bring it…" he said. "First, we will take him off the chain and try some water torture, being that you have a small fear of water. Oh, I remember that! You, me, the bottom of the Mobian ocean! Oh, what a laugh!" Dimitri said as he snapped his fingers. Some Legionnaires sprung forward, undid the chain, and dragged Knuckles over to a water tank, filled with chunks of ice. "Take a deep breath," Dimitri said as they shoved his head under the water and held him there. He struggled to get up, but was too weak to do so. The water was so cold, he felt like he was going to freeze into an icicle. When Dimitri snapped his fingers again, they pulled him up, giving him time to gasp for air, and dunked him again.

They were horrified. Dimitri was out of his mind! The guys growled and clenched their teeth as the girls fought to hold back their tears.

When Dimitri was done with the dunking, they put him back on the chain, allowing the cold water to drip down his body to the floor. "Now…let's try something else," Dimitri said as the Legionnaires punching him with metal gloves, which shocked his soaked body. He grunted in pain as each electrical pulse was sent through him. There would be a bright flash where he was being struck, then it would disappear. This continued for several minutes, until Dimitri grew bored and desired new means of entertainment. "Hold him still," Dimitri said as he pulled out a hot brander. Knuckles struggled, but was held still as Dimitri brought the brander closer and closer. He held it just before his great-grandnephew's chest before stopping and saying, "If you say 'Hail Dimitri, Lord and Master', then perhaps I wont burn this onto your chest." "B-Burn in H-hell," Knuckles replied defiantly. "Me? Oh, no. It's you that will feel burning," Dimitri said with an evil smile as Knuckles grunted loudly with a steaming sound in the background.

Julie-Su couldn't bear to hear him in pain like this. It was like something ripping at her heart. She gazed at the burnt 'DL' on his chest, which stood for Dark Legion. He was gasping deeply through his clenched teeth as he squinted his eyes. She wanted to scream, and she almost did. Why did this have to happen? Why couldn't everything have been the way she wanted it to? He was being slowly killed right before her eyes. Why him? Why them?

"Well, that's all the time we have for today! Until tomorrow, then," Dimitri said with a smile as the screen shut off. Mighty couldn't take it anymore. Enough was enough. He growled in rage, grabbed the monitor and screamed, "DAMN YOU, DIMITRI!!!" as he tore the screen down and smashed it on the floor. He then started sobbing on his knees as he hugged himself for comfort. Ray knelt beside him and put his arm around Mighty, who continued to sob. Morph was so depressed his shoulders were hanging low enough for his hands to touch the floor. Sonic just stared at Mighty on the floor when he felt something squeezing his hand. He turned to see Sally, fighting back her tears as she tightly grasped his hand. He grasped her hand as well as she looked up at him and rested her head on his shoulder. "Enough is enough," Grim said as he clenched his fist tightly before himself. "Yeah. Let's get to work," agreed Espio.

Sonic, Shadow and Freezie were covering more distance in a few hours than they usually did in a week's time. Tails and Rotor jumped into the Tornado and were flying around with DJ, searching from the sky. Everyone else joined the search on the ground, combing every inch of the ground they covered. "F.C.," Cap said to the young mage, "Is it possible you could reach him telepathically?" F.C. looked up at the sky and said, "I'm not sure. It would require great concentration to establish a good connection, and I'm not sure if he's really capable of it." "We're running out of options. Keep this between us two, but we'll never find him this way. Mobius is a big freakin' planet. If we don't use our heads…I don't wanna even think about what might happen," Cap stated. F.C. saw the truth in what Cap had said, set himself in a lotus position to meditate, and began to concentrate.

F.C. ascended onto another plane of reality, so as to reach Knuckles. It didn't look and different from his surroundings previous to his ascension. He could even see his body floating in meditation. 'Knuckles! Knuckles, can you hear me? It's F.C.! I know it must be hard, but try and respond!' F.C. shouted, trying to send out a signal. He waited, receiving no response. 'Come on! Don't give up on us now! Answer!' Once again, silence. F.C. sighed as he lowered his head. It was hopeless. 'G-Good t-t-to he-ear y-you…' a weak voice muttered. F.C. 's head shot up with a wide smile. 'KNUX! Is that you???' he questioned. 'Y-eah. Ca-an't t-talk…w-weak…' 'Where are you??? Tell me where you are and we'll get you out of there!' F.C. said. 'D-Don't…kn-know…Da-ark…Hard t-to st-stay aw-wak-ke…' F.C.'s smile faded as Knuckles' voice began to trail off. 'NO! Don't lose consciousness! Please, stay awake!' he pleaded. To the young mage's distress, he lost contact. He shouted his name for several minutes, not gaining any response.

Cap was disappointed with F.C.'s news. Was there any hope at all now? He walked off until he reached a cliff and decided to stare out at the horizon. The sun was beginning to set again, and the horizon was red. Cap sighed and looked up at the sky. "We could really use some help right now. I'd appreciate it," he said aloud, "I'm starting to lose hope. People look to me to be the one that's always positive. But…I-" He stopped when he heard a familiar voice sniffling not too far away. He pushed back some branches to see Julie-Su, who had stepped off to the side to cry it out. "You okay?" Cap asked. Julie-Su slowly turned around as she wiped her eyes. "I-I'm fine. I just…I just can't take this. We're never gonna find him," she said, beginning to cry again. "Yeah we will. We just gotta-" "What does it take to get through to you?!?! He could be anywhere! And while we're searching, he's being tortured to death! This is all my fault…I could have told him how I felt right then and there, but I didn't, and now I may never get the chance!" she yelled, tears gushing from her eyes. A look of anger filled Cap's eyes as he shook her. "What's wrong with you! Stop moping around and feeling sorry! We will find him! I swear it! I won't sleep until we do! All we need is faith, hope, and the will to do it!" he yelled. She stared at him for a moment, until he ran off to continue his search. 'Thank you, Julie-Su. You helped restore my faith. Hang on Knux!'

Julie-Su continued to just stand there, until she looked at her reflection in a small brook. Her lower eyelids were red from crying. Red. Just like him. She looked all around her. The sky was red, the leaves began to turn red with the autumn, even the small bird that flew by was red. It was like the whole world was mocking her. She took a deep breath and sighed as she raised her head. He wouldn't give up if their dilemma was in reverse. He would search night and day until he found her. She had to be willing to do the same for him. 'Thanks Cap,' she thought to herself as she went to join the rest of the search party.

"Welcome back to our show!" Dimitri began, "Today, I thought we'd lay off the physical suffering and move on to mental and emotional torment." Dimitri walked over to Knuckles' dangling form and began to circle him. "Yes, that will be quite easy, won't it? Considering all you've done?" Dimitri said mockingly. Knuckles was slipping in and out of consciousness, and mumbled, "Th-that…won't…work thi-is ti-ime." Dimitri chuckled and said, "Oh yes it will. I am going to reveal your dark side right here, for all eyes to see." Dimitri motioned his hand and an old echidna stepped forward. He was an elderly echidna, with patches of white hair on top of his head. He wore a pair of large, circular spectacles, which made him look all the more menacing as the little light in the room reflected from them. "So, how's the subject?" the old doctor asked. "He's ready. Do it now," Dimitri demanded. "Of course, sire," the doctor replied as he pulled out a pocket watch and began to move it back and forth before Knuckles' face. The young guardian chuckled as much as he could and muttered, "Idiot. Ev-ryone knows y-you ne-ed to wat-tch it" as he shut his eyes. Two legionnaires stepped up from behind him and punched both his sides, causing him to open his pain-filled eyes as he grunted. They grabbed his head and forced his eyes open as the doctor continued to motion the watch back and forth. "You are getting sleepy now," the old echidna proclaimed. "No…I-I'm n-not…" Knuckles muttered as he felt his eyelids getting heavier. "Sleepier…sleepier…" the doctor continued, as Knuckles' eyes fluttered for a second, and slowly closed. "Now, when I snap my fingers, you will wake up and we will talk with Eclipse. Ready? 'SNAP!'"

Knuckles groaned as his eyes opened. 'Wh-at…I…I'm f-free?" Knuckles said, his voice seeming deeper. "Yes, you are," Dimitri said, smiling proudly at the success. Knuckles looked up and growled. "Y-You! When I-I get ou-outta h-here…I'll r-r-rip your he-ead off!" Dimitri chuckled and said, "Wouldn't you rather do so to your father?" "M-My father?" Knuckles muttered sarcastically as he spit off to the side, "I ha-ave no f-father. If y-you mean Lo-ocke…then no. I hav-ve bi-gger plans fo-or him." Dimitri smiled with satisfaction. "You don't really like your father, do you?" he asked. "I ha-ate him wi-ith everyth-thing that I a-am. C-can you bl-blame me? The h-heart-less mon-nster ab-bandoned me f-for six y-years…Did h-he ex-xpect the hur-rt to j-just go aw-away? Th-that he co-could just come b-back int-to my li-ife? Six y-years al-lone on th-that st-tupid island. I'll bl-low it up wh-hen I get ou-outta here…or ma-aybe I'll j-just rem-move the em-erald…let it si-ink. But Locke…si-ix years w-was lo-ong enough t-to fi-gure out wh-at t-to do to h-him," Knuckles explained.

The people of Acorn were all shooting comments back and forth. Was this who they were trying to save? Was he really worth saving? This couldn't possibly be the son Lara-Le had spoken of. Locke turned away from the screen and lowered his head. He had failed his son in every way. This proved it. Knuckles never showed it until recently, but there was a deep resentment of his father entwined in his being. This was his fault. He had made his son a monster.

"What do you intend to do?" Dimitri questioned. "Heh…I w-want him t-to die s-slow. I could b-bury him a-alive…or dr-rown him…b-but then, I w-wouldn't be ab-ble to he-ear him sc-scream…Maybe I-I'll sta-ab him w-with the sp-purs he put o-on my ha-ands…let him bl-bleed to death slowly…He ma-ade me a f-freak…" Knuckles growled and lunged his body forward at the camera and yelled, "YOU HE-EAR ME LOCKE??? I'M GONNA KI-ILL YOU!!! AND IF ANYONE G-GETS IN MY W-WAY, I'LL RIP 'EM AP-PART WITH THE CL-CLAWS Y-YOU GAVE ME!!! YOU M-MADE ME A FR-REAKIN' MONSTER!!!"

Dimitri, fully satisfied with Knuckles', or rather Eclipse's display of evil and hate, motioned for the doctor to snap his fingers. After the doctor did so, Knuckles stirred for a second, then looked up at the camera with glossy eyes as his mouth hung open. His head then drooped as he muttered, "Y-you son of-of a…" "Oh, no. I did nothing but show Eclipse the door. But then again…there really is no Eclipse, is there? It's just you. It's just a sad, lonely little boy who hates his father, and wants to take his rage out on the world. You are absolutely pathetic," Dimitri mocked. Knuckles, using all the strength he could muster, swung himself on the chain and used his bound feet to whack Dimitri in the side of the head. Several legionnaires sprung forward, some rushing to Dimitri, others to beat the defiant Guardian. Dimitri shoved his assistance aside and glared at Knuckles with burning hate in his eyes. "Still you defy me?!?! Well, we'll just have to do something about that, won't we?!?! Dimitri yelled as he walked over to Knuckles and pulled out a knife.

Everyone's eyes widened. Was this it? Julie-Su turned away as Dimitri stopped in front of Knuckles, not wishing to see.

To their surprise, Dimitri took the knife and cut Knuckles' arm. He did flinch from the sudden jolt of pain, but it was nothing serious. It hardly broke the skin. Then it slowly healed, and closed up. "You see, good people of Mobius, Knuckles is quite extraordinary. The chaos energy in his veins will heal any injury he might sustain. I have often wondered how much your body can heal at once. Since we lowered the dosage of the drug we've been giving you, why don't we give it a test?" Dimitri said with an evil, sinister grin. He stepped back as some Legionnaires surrounded Knuckles and drew small hand-knives, "Just remember: only his arms, legs, and sides. I don't want to ruin that handsome face of yours. Not yet, anyway." Knuckles, knowing what was about to happen, closed his eyes and waited for the pain. He didn't have to wait long.

Tails pulled one of his tails in front of his face so he couldn't see, as Amy did so with his other tail. They others wanted to look away, but couldn't. They were too scared, to horrified to move a single muscle. With tear-filled eyes, they watched as Dimitri watched with a grim satisfaction. He then turned to the audience and said, "Although I would like you to see more, we cannot remain on the air any longer. If we did, someone might be able to break our signal-jammer and trace our broadcast. So you can check in with us tomorrow. Same time, same place." Just before the screen went blank, you could see Knuckles, hanging from the ceiling, his arms, sides and legs becoming a crimson red, as a puddle of the same color began to gather on the floor.


	3. NIGHTMARE'S END

NIGHTMARE'S END

Dimitri entered the room with a large grin on his face, as he had done for several days before. For there hung his prisoner. Battered, scarred, whipped, shocked, burned, the list went on and on. Just because the cameras went off, doesn't mean the show had to end. He took pleasure in watching his troops stand him up and knock him down, kicking him as he lay on the ground. However, fun can only last for so long. Either your interest in it disperses, or the fun itself runs out of steam. In this case, Knuckles was running out of steam.

Knuckles knew someone had entered the room, but couldn't see who it was. His vision was blurred, and it was a constant battle to keep his eyes open. His eyes stung from when sweat had dripped into them. The marks on his sides and appendages ached, and his shoulders and neck were on fire from hanging there. He felt like someone had taken a sharp rake and ran it across his back, and it was probably scarred all over from being whipped. He coughed up some blood, which dripped from his lower lip onto the Guardian symbol. A drop of sweat ran down his forehead, gathered at the tip of his nose, and trickled down into a puddle of blood and sweat beneath him. How many days had it been? He wasn't sure. He was constantly losing consciousness, and who knows how long he was out for each time? Then he heard the chuckle. It burned his ears. He knew it was Dimitri's voice. Dimitri had not only been cruel physically, but mentally too. Once he referred to Knuckles as 'son', saying that he felt pity on him for having Locke as a father. He brought Lien-Da in constantly and brought up Julie-Su all the time. Dimitri knew just where to hit him. Suddenly, the lights came on, burning his eyes as he squinted them. Then, Dimitri began to speak…

"Welcome back! Today will be our grand series finale! I had hoped to go on longer, but it looks like Knuckles wants to ruin the fun. Too bad. Today…he dies. And he has a choice of how he can die, so let's see what he chooses," Dimitri said to the camera as he turned to Knuckles and stared him in the face. "If you call me 'Dimitri: Lord and Master', then I will let you die quickly and painlessly. If not…well, you get the idea," Dimitri said. Knuckles mumbled something, catching Dimitri's ear. "What did you say? I can't hear you," Dimitri said, as if he were speaking to a child. Suddenly, Knuckles spat on Dimitri's face, which could only make Sonic smile. "Stubborn as a mule…" Sonic said as they watched on in horror as Dimitri wiped the bloody spit off of his face. "And still you defy me…No matter," Dimitri said calmly as he signaled for some Legionnaires to come over and untie Knuckles, "Take him to 'the Machine'.

The Machine was simple enough. It was a big wall with all sorts of wires attached to it. Knuckles was quickly strapped against the wall with metal restraints, offering no resistance. He hung limply as they clamped his hands, feet, waist, and neck to the wall. Dimitri stood in front of him, proudly. "Do you have any idea what this device will do to you? It stimulates the sensory neurons in your skin, jump-starting your pain-receptors. In simple terms, you are going to relive every sensation of pain you have ever felt in your live-from pricking your finger to what you've been receiving here. I could just turn it on for a little while and leave you as a steamed vegetable, but I'd rather you die painfully begging for a quicker death. I want to hear you scream, Knuckles, and I'll get what I want with this device."

"DJ, can he do that? I mean…the pain-receptor to the thingie and the higory do-da yeah?" Morph asked, at a loss for words. "I dunno. I mean…I don't think Dimitri's tryin' to build up suspense here," DJ replied grimly. Julie-Su felt her heart sinking. She was about to watch him die a horrible, horrible death, without ever telling him how she felt. She felt some relief when Mighty grasped her hand, trying to give her some comfort. He smiled weakly, but she couldn't smile back. They turned back to the screen, fearing for the worst.

"All batteries charged…all systems check…we're good to go, my Lord," A legionnaire said with a bow. "Excellent," Dimitri said. "Just kill him and get it over with. I really hate when you drag these things out, Grandfather," Lien-Da complained as she walked onto the screen. She walked over to Knuckles and ran her finger down his chest. "I really hate to see such a good physique go to waste. It's a shame you wasted yourself on my tramp step-sister," Lien-Da said with a malicious smile as she ran the back of her hand along his face, receiving a disgusted look. "After all, what does she have that I don't? Enlighten me," Lien-Da demanded. "F-f-for st-tart-ters…l-l-looks," Knuckles stated. Julie-Su smiled so slightly it was hard to notice when he said that, but lost her smile when he was slapped across the face. "'Humph!' Kill him now," Lien-Da said with a snarl. "You can say good-bye to your friends now if you want to, Knuckles. You'll never get another chance," Dimitri said. Knuckles looked up at the camera, a small trail of blood running from the edge of his mouth. "G-g-guy-uy-s…" Knuckles moaned as his head drooped and he passed out.

"He's out, sire," Xenin said, lifting Knuckles' chin in his hand. "Well he won't be for long. Start 'the Machine'," Dimitri demanded. A buzzing sound filled the room as Knuckles' friends braced for the worst. Lights on the wall lit up in different colors as twin turbines on either side of Knuckles began to spin. Dimitri smiled and waited for the screaming to start. He waited…and waited…and waited…and growled in impatience. "What's wrong? It should have started up!" Dimitri roared. "I don't know, my Lord. I'll have out technicians check immediately," Xenin replied as he turned to the technicians behind him. Vector sighed in relief. It had bought them some time. "What can we do? We have to act now. If we don't, we'll lose him!" Sally yelled. Grim growled as he fell to his knees with his fists ignited in flame and slammed them into the ground. "Where are you, dammit?!?!" he yelled.

As the Legion and the rescue party were distracted, they failed to notice Knuckles crack his eyes open. His breathing was so slight it was as if he weren't breathing at all. "…oh my god…" he mumbled as his eyes widened, "…Oh my God…", he said again, his eyes as wide as they could get. "OH MY GOD!!!" Knuckles yelled, before screaming out in pain. This however, was no normal screaming. It was as if he were being eaten alive from the inside out, as if the very air around him burned his skin like the fiery heat of the sun. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as he began to foam at the mouth, saliva pouring down the sides of his mouth as he screamed.

Dimitri turned and smiled, as his friends and family felt tears trickling down their faces as they watched in horror. He continued screaming, not even stopping to draw a breath. He took a split second breath, but not without screaming in doing it. It was incredible. He couldn't believe it. He was going to die like this. He began to see his life flashing before his eyes. He saw his mother tucking him into bed and kissing him on the head, then his father taking him to the Island for the first time. Now he saw Sally, and Rouge, then Sonic and Tails. The Freedom Fighters, The Chaotix, the Dark Legion, Julie-Su…meeting her for the first time. Mecha Sonic, Mammoth Mongul, Julie-Su…their first kiss…The Hunter, Perfect Chaos, Julie-Su…crying because of him…Eclipse, thousands of begging, frightened faces, Julie-Su…dead in his arms…Station Square, the Ravagers, the Battle, Shadow, Julie-Su…happy on her birthday…The pain…it was too much. He couldn't take it!!!

He began to pull with his arms and shoulders, trying to get free, to find some way of escaping the pain, the memories. He pulled and pulled, screaming and growling. Dimitri watched in awe as the wall began to crack. "How can he do that?!?! He's too weak!!!" Dimitri yelled to a technician over the sound of Knuckles' screams. "He's out of his mind with pain, Sire! He'll tear himself apart to escape it!" Suddenly, something gave. The wall shattered and the machine shut down. Knuckles fell to the floor, still screaming in pain as he began to flail around on the ground in what appeared to be a seizure or convulsion of some kind, his entire body shaking violently. He scrambled over to the nearest wall on his hands and knees, screaming at the top of his lungs, and dug his spurs into it. He then began to repeatedly bash his head against the wall. Anything…anything to get his mind off the pain. Slam, slam, slam against the wall, blood spilling from his head. He let out a final deafening scream as he bashed his head against the wall one last time, causing it to crumble as he fell to the ground, his body still shaking and twitching intensely.

When the wall crumbled in front of him, the room next to it caused Shadow to gasp. It was a blue, metallic room, with computers and monitors all over. In the middle of the room, there was a glass capsule. The memory of Maria came back. Her hand running down the glass as she pushed the button, jettisoning him towards the planet. "That's it!" Shadow yelled in realization, "We were always asking 'Where on Mobius is he', but he was never on Mobius! He's on ARK!!!" They all stared at him with widened eyes as he clasped a chaos emerald in his hand and yelled out "CHAOS CONTROL!!!"

They looked back at the screen and saw Dimitri standing over Knuckles' shaking form. "So you've survived…well, I guess we'll just have to do something abou-" Suddenly, Shadow appeared in front of him, with a deep hatred in his eyes. "Shadow!!!" Dimitri yelled in horror as the hedgehog drew closer. "Listen to me now, Dimitri! I'm taking Knuckles to the Kingdom of Acorn, then I'm coming back here. And if you're still here, I'll rip your robotic heart out with my bear hands!" Shadow growled. Dimitri took a step back, then turned to run, followed by his remaining troops. Shadow, now showing signs of fear, ran over to Knuckles and knelt beside him. "Knuckles! Can you hear me?" he asked as he went to move him, but felt a weak zap as he did so. Shadow pulled his hand away as Knuckles let out a short scream. He couldn't be moved. Shadow then glanced up at the camera to see that it was still rolling. "Guys! I'm taking him back now! Get a doctor ready!" he demanded as her turned back to Knuckles, who was still shaking. "My friend…I'm sorry, but I have to touch you to make this work." Shadow quickly placed his hand on Knuckles' back, receiving a scream as he yelled "CHAOS CONTROL!!!"

The doctors had just pulled in a stretcher as Shadow came back with Knuckles laying on the ground. Lara-Le ran over to him crying, but Shadow stopped her. "Milady, no!!!" "Shadow? What's wrong with you??? Let me go to him!!!" "No, milady! We can't touch him! If you do, it will only hurt him more." Knowing this, the doctor quickly got him on a stretcher and wheeled him out of the room. Lara-Le cried even more, throwing her arms around Wyn as they watched the doctor take him away.

The screaming was almost unbearable. They could hear him from outside the room. Whatever the doctor were doing, they were pretty sure it wasn't helping. They all sat in silence, except for Lara-Le, who continued to sob. Finally, a doctor came out, instantly gaining their attention. "We can't put him out. Every time we try to apply a needle, he simply knocks the doctor across the room! He's just too strong. There was silence for a second, until Mighty quietly said, "I'll hold him still." As he followed the doctor into the room and the door closed behind them, they could see a look of fear in his eyes. Inside, Mighty was on the verge of breaking down to tears. He stood beside Knuckles for what seemed like forever, just staring at him. He was shaking and twitching uncontrollably, his eyes seemingly sealed shut as he gritted his teeth and growled in pain. Finally, the doctor tapped him on the shoulder, and he took a deep breath. "I am so, so sorry buddy…" Mighty whispered as he grabbed Knuckles and held him down, causing him to struggle and scream in pain. Did he even know where he was? Did he know it was Mighty? Did he know he was still alive? All Mighty could hear was him screaming as the doctor managed to apply the needle. When Mighty came back out of the room, tears were rolling down his face as he stared at the ground. He stopped in the middle of the hall and stood there in silence. Espio finally put his hand on Mighty's shoulder, and the armadillo threw his arms around him, crying.

Not long after that, they were permitted to come in and see him. They had cleaned him up, so he wasn't a bloody mess anymore, but he was still shaking and shuddering. "What's going to happen, Doctor?" Locke asked. The doctor sighed and said, "Well…we've never seen anything like this before. It's never happened before. Ever. Right now, he's in a coma. I wish I could tell you how long he'll be like this…but I can't. It could be days, weeks, months…even years." They all gasped as the doctor said this. He could wake up to discover that everyone, including himself, have aged several decades. Julie-Su sat down next to him and stared at his face as the doctor went on. "We've managed to numb him, but he's still shaking. We just can't get the shuddering to stop." Julie-Su looked at him from head to toe with great observation, then said, "He's not shuddering…he's shivering. He's cold." She pulled the covers up over him and took his hand out of his blood stained mitten. She removed her hand from her own glove and took his, rubbing her thumb atop his hand. Slowly, the shuddering began to lessen, until it finally stopped, and the look of pain washed off of his face. "I think he knows who it is," Rouge said with a smile. Julie-Su glanced back at her with a smile and said, "Me too."

As the hours stretched on, many of them left for the night, but Julie-Su stayed. At first the doctors objected to this, but Grim threatened them into accepting it. She sat there by his bedside, rubbing his hand as she watched him. "I'm right here," she whispered in his ear, "Can you hear me? Do you know who this is? It's Julie. I'm not going anywhere. I'm gonna stay right here. I don't care if I spend the rest of my life in this room…as long as I'm with you," she said as she kissed his cheek, and eventually drifted off to sleep.

He groaned as he opened his eyes, wondering if he was even still alive. 'Uhhh…whole body's numb…can't feel my body. Nothing…' he thought, until he felt a warm feeling in his hand. He glanced over to see Julie-Su, fast asleep, still grasping his hand tightly. His eyes widened as they began to water. He then noticed that she was shivering slightly. He looked down and saw the cover over him, and looked back at her. For what seemed like hours, he used his toes and feet to inch the covers over towards her, and with his free hand, pull them over her shoulders, trying not to wake her. It was a slow process, being that he couldn't feel anything but her hand in his, but after what was at least an hour if not more, he finally did it. His legs were exposed now, but he couldn't feel anything in them anyway so it didn't matter. After a simple task like that, he felt extremely week and slowly lost consciousness, but managed to keep a smile on his face.

When Julie-Su woke up, she smiled at the sight of him with a smile on his face. "Good morning," she whispered as she sat up, making sure the covers didn't fall onto the floor. Covers??? Her eyes widened as she noticed the end of his covers pulled over her. 'A doctor wouldn't put a guest before a patient…and the others left last night…then who-' She glanced down at him smiling, and came to realize what had happened. She rubbed her hand along the side of his face and whispered, "It was you, wasn't it?" She stared at him for what seemed like forever, and kissed him on his brow, avoiding the scratches on his forehead.

"Wait until the others-" she began, until she was interrupted by and explosion outside. The whole hospital shook with the blast, forcing her to grab the edge of the bed for support. She checked to see if he was alright, then looked at the door. She sighed in frustration as she growled "Something always has to happen at the worst time, doesn't it?" (**Author's Note:** Yep, it does.) She looked back at him, and whispered, "I have to go, but I promise I'll be back," as she kissed his cheek and let go of his hand. Almost instantly, as if he knew something was wrong, he began to shiver again as she ran out the door.

When she got outside, the Freedom Fighters and the Chaotix were gathered in front of the hospital, facing a large cloud of smoke. "What the hell happened?" Julie-Su yelled to them as she approached. "We don't know," Rouge replied as they prepared for the worst. "Where are the Ravagers?" Julie-Su asked as she looked around, not seeing them. "They left this morning. Talk about bad timing!" Sonic said. Suddenly, they heard a laugh. A laugh they had not heard for a long time. "Hello, children. It's good to see you again," a deep voice said. The smoke cleared, and their thoughts were revealed true. It was Mammoth Mogul! Standing before them with the Fearsome Foursome. "H-How…" Sally began. "..am I free? The answer to that mystery even eludes me. It was as if the Walkers themselves set me free. I care not, however, how I gained my freedom, but I intend to enjoy it!" Shadow had never seen this guy before, but he could smell the power emitting from him. "This isn't good,' he thought to himself. "No, Shadow, it isn't", Mogul answered. Shadow's eyes widened. "What do you want?" Tails yelled. "Me? I want power! More than I ever had before! I want the power…of Eclipse!!!" Their eyes widened. He was going to drain Knuckles' power. But in his current condition, Knuckles wouldn't survive it! "No way!" Mighty and Sonic yelled together.

"Well then,. I guess my Super Fearsome Foursome will have to deal with you," Mogul stated. Suddenly, his energy swirled around them, transforming them! Sergeant Simian flashed a bright orange, Lightning Lynx glowed a fiery yellow, Predator Hawk turned to a light purple, and Jumping Frog transformed to a sky blue. "Oh…crap," Sonic muttered as they watched the transformation. "Our young echidna friend is much to weak to summon his powers, otherwise it would be suicidal for me to take him head on. His current weakened condition leaves him helpless. Now, you will stand aside and let me drain the young Guardian's energy, or I have you slaughtered by my Fearsome Foursome and then drain his energy. Make your choice."


	4. THE END?

THE END?

'I forget how much life can suck sometimes. Take my current situation: My best friend gets tortured for all eyes to see, almost killed, then when we save him and everything seems like it's gonna work out, this happens. Mammoth Mogul and the Chaos-powered Fearsome Foursome. We've tangoed with these clowns a lot. We thought that Mogul got sealed inside the Master Emerald, but obviously he got out. Man! We're in trouble! Mogul wants to drain Knux's power, but that would kill him! I can't let that happen. We gotta fight…even though we stand no chance. Shadow used up his last bit of energy for a warp jump to ARK, so he's still kinda weak from that. Heck, I'd be too going that distance, chaos control or not. But that means he can't super-charge Sonic, Tails, and himself to fight! We are in it sooo deep right now."

Mighty looked back at Mammoth Mogul and gritted his teeth. This was gonna be tough. They had numbers, but the opposition had chaos energy. That made up for everything tenfold. He felt sweat drip down the side of his face. It was so hot…probably from the energy the Fearsome Foursome were giving off. He jumped to attention when he heard Mogul chuckle. He smiled at them in their desperation and said, "So? Have you made your decision?"

"Yeah! Screw you!!!" a familiar voice yelled. They looked up to see the Ravagers jumping out of their jet, landing beside their friends on the ground. "Now that was a cool entry," Swiper boasted, until they were cut off by the sound of their jet exploding as it crashed into a mountainside. The Ravagers all stared into space with blank expressions, until Grim turned to yell at DJ. "You idiot!!! Did you forget the autopilot?!?!" DJ slunk back and muttered, "Uhhh…I might have…I don't remember." "Forget the jet! Who's the wide-load?" Freezie asked Sonic. "I am the great Mammoth Mogul! Show some respect for your future master!" Mogul demanded. "The only great thing about you is your size. Couldn't resist the Super Big Mac with cheese, huh?" Freezie replied, not caring about the depth of Mogul's power. "Guys! He wants to drain Knux's power, but that'll kill him!" Sally yelled, her face filled with concern. Cap glared over at Mogul and said, "You got a prob with Knux, you got a prob with us!" "Yeah, so we suggest you get outta here as fast as your fat ass can take you!" Freezie spat. "Oh, it will take more than the likes of you to stop me. I will have the unlimited power of Eclipse." Mogul said calmly. Vipes grasped his sword and yelled, "Not while we can do something about it!" Mogul chuckled and said, "Well, if you wish to stop me…you'll have to defeat my Fearsome Foursome first," Mogul said as he motioned his hand to the grinning Fearsome Four.

"Then we won't keep you waiting!!!" Cap yelled as he charged and upper-cutted Sergeant Simian. Simian, caught off guard, couldn't react as Cap performed a double spin-kick, which sent him flying backwards. Simian caught his footing and got up to hear Grim yell "Fireball attack!!!" Simian caught the huge fireball and eventually crushed it between his hands, but when he looked up, Cap and Grim's fists were right in front of his face.

Lightning Lynx was about to attack the Freedom Fighters when Freezie tackled him and yelled, "Tag! You're it!" tauntingly. Lynx growled as he got up and dashed after the human speedster. Lynx was about to catch up with Freezie, but every time he did Freezie pulled away enough to mock his opponent. "C'mon! Is that all? If you wanna catch this, you (now singing) gotta go fast! Gotta go fast! Gotta go faster, faster, faster-faster-faster!" Lynx growled and went as fast as he could and caught up with Freezie. "Now that's it! One problem though," Freezie said. "Yeah? What's that?" Freezie pointed in front of Lynx, who turned to see Sonic running towards him. "See ya!" Freezie taunted as Sonic punched Lynx as hard as he could, as fast as he could, which sent Lynx soaring into the trees. The two speedsters huffed and puffed, and then began to hurry back to the others. "What was that song you were singing? It was catchy," Sonic said. "I dunno. Can't think of it," was Freezie's reply as they hurried back. (**Author's Note:** If you yourself don't know, then shame on you!!!)

Predator Hawk was swooping in for another run with his lethal talons. He had just swiped Antoine's back and was thirsty for more. He saw Amy unprepared, and designated his target. When he came down though, his claws collided with a pair of sais. "Those who attack defenseless females have no honor!" Vipes yelled. "Oh yeah? Take this, honor-boy!" Hawk shouted as he began to slash away. Vipes, using his precise ninja skills, managed to block every strike, and come up to scrape Hawk's beak. Hawk flew up into the sky, knowing the young ninja was a formidable opponent. "That's it! You are so-" "Hey! Wassup?" DJ asked Hawk as he hovered a few feet away from him with his arms crossed. "Another human? I'll open you like a tin can!!!" Hawk yelled as he charged. DJ, flying in the opposite direction but still facing Hawk, said, "Ya see, that would work…if I didn't have this." The gauntlets on his wrists hummed as tiny green floating disks floated above them. "A good DJ always has some plasma mini-disks!" DJ yelled as he fired a barrage of the disks, which exploded on contact. As the smoking Hawk fell towards the ground, DJ fixed the beanie on his head and said, "Master Chief's got nuthin' on this!"

Jumping Frog was hopping around, kicking everyone around and laughing as he did so. However, when he threw another kick, it struck something hard, making him yelp in pain. Morph laughed and said, "Solid titanium is pretty hard, huh?" as he reconfigured his molecules back to their normal state. "I'm gonna git-" Jumping Frog began, until he discovered himself floating in the air against his own will. "Wh-what's goin' on here???" he shouted in shock. He looked up to see F.C., his arm outstretched before him, his hand glowing green. "Have you ever wondered what would happen…if you were to jump too high?" the young mage asked as he lifted his hand, raising the Frog higher ad higher until he was above the clouds. "Let's find out," he finished as he threw his hand towards the ground, and Leaping Frog came crashing to the surface.

"So much for the Fearsome Follies! Now we just gotta take care of ol' tubby!" Freezie said as he wiped the dust off of his shoulders. "Freezie! Watch it! This guys got more power than you can imagine!" Tails shouted. Freezie snickered and replied, "You mean he's got more weight than I can imagine!" DJ, Morph and Swiper couldn't help but snicker, but everyone else was deeply concerned. Freezie looked at them in confusion and said, "What's wrong with you guys? He doesn't look so scary to me! I mean, he's huge! And his nose is as big as he is! I'm sure they called him 'Shnozzy Osborne' in High School, huh tubby? I mean c'mon! He's just a big…hairy elephant!" "Yeah!" DJ said, outstretching his arms, "He's like a big teddy bear…only…an elephant." "Yeah! Besides, look at him! The only scary thing about him is his weight! I can see him walking into a McDonalds, after struggling to get through the door, and the cashier asks him 'What can I get you, sir?' And what's his answer? (In a deep voice, trying to impersonate Mogul) 'One word: Super size!!!'" DJ, Morph, and Swiper burst into laughter now, and even Sonic began to chuckle. "You know that 'super size' is two words, right?" Morph asked. "He doesn't!" Freezie answered. "You obviously cannot comprehend the magnitude of my power," Mogul said. "I can comprehend the magnitude of your weight," Freezie shot back. "I believe it's time I crushed you with my awesome power!" Mogul stated. "What he said: 'I believe it's time I crushed you with my awesome power!' What he meant: 'I believe it's time I crushed you with my awesome weight!'" Freezie said laughing, until the ground began to shake. Green energy enveloped Mogul as he chuckled. His white jacket and dress shirt ripped and tore as he became larger. His dress pants tore, and were replaced by white sweatpants. He became taller and taller as the energy swirled around him, until he finally let out a bellowing, "Now, behold my awesome power!" Freezie, his eyes widened and his shoulders sagging, could only say," Wow…you really let yourself go. I mean, as if you weren't fat enough!"

Mogul fired a beam of energy at them, but they all managed to evade it by a few inches. Grim opened the flaming palm of his hand and unleashed a barrage of fireballs, none of which doing any form of harm. Cap tried his trademark 'Kenzo Fist', but he was jolted away by chaos energy. F.C. gathered Sonic, Shadow and Tails, and began to chant, knowing that they could help in the fight. In a few short seconds, the three transformed into Super Sonic, Hyper Shadow, and Turbo Tails. F.C. of course, was drained from the high cost of the spell, and had to lay low as he recovered his energy. Freezie was running around until he bumped into something and fell over. He looked up to see Mogul standing above him. "Wow…from down here, you look like a boulder. A big, FAT boulder." Mogul growled in frustration and yelled. "You will be the first to die!!!" as he tried to stomp of Freezie, but Hyper Shadow pulled him out of the way.

Mogul chuckled at the sight of the chaos-powered trio and said, "Well now. Things may get interesting. I have yet to see what this new hedgehog can do. But I suppose all hedgehogs are the same…weak and inferior, as all others are to me!" "Oh yeah? Well-" Before Sonic could finish his sentence, he gasped in shock as his eyes widened. Shadow and Tails followed suite as the trio fell to their knees, moaning in what sounded like pain. "What's happening to them? Is he absorbing their energy?" Amy asked amidst the confusion. The answer became clear when the energy drifted behind them, and enveloped a familiar figure…known as Knuckles the Echidna.

Somehow he was standing. Perhaps a sheer force of will. They could see from how he was standing that he shouldn't be. He was hunched over, wobbling slightly, trying his hardest just to keep his head up. His body was scarred and bruised, and patches of fur were burnt. The 'DL' that had been burned onto his chest was almost gone, but signs of it were still there. "Sorry…to have to…drain you like that, but…I need the energy…" he said as the stolen energy surrounded him, and in a flash, he was Hyper Knuckles, and able to stand himself straight up.

"Knux! What the Hell are you doin' outta bed, man?" Vector yelled. "Y-y-yeah! Your-r'e h-hurt-t," Ray stuttered. Knuckles panted for a moment, but finally answered, "If Mogul wants me, he can have me…after he beats me 'til I can't get up!" Knuckles yelled as he charged at Mogul at full speed. Mogul chuckled and said, "Well, that won't take long," as he held his hand before him and unleashed a shockwave. The shockwave hit Hyper Knuckles, sent his flying backwards, and smashed him into the side of the hospital, leaving a small crater in the wall. Hyper Knuckles' eyes widened with pain as he struck the wall. He heard his bones cracking and his skin tearing. He fell forwards, flashed back to red as he fell, and landed on his chest with a loud thud. "Now, I believe this is where I win," Mogul taunted as he moved towards Knuckles. Everyone stood in the way as he approached and Sally yelled, "No way! You won't touch him!" "Then I must deal with you first," Mogul chuckled.

Knuckles could hear the cries of his friends yelling out in pain as he lay there, growling as he tried to move but couldn't do so. He had no energy left. "No…he'll just…use my power to…kill," Knuckles muttered to himself as a small butterfly landed beside him with a smoking wing. He opened his eyes as he heard it land, and watched as it fluttered it's wings on the ground, and died. He reached over and took it in his hand as he struggled onto his knees and began to sob. "No…it didn't hurt…anyone. It didn't deserve...to die. I…I can't let…my power hurt…anyone else…". Suddenly, something snapped. He growled in fury as the tears on his face evaporated into the air. He began screaming now as he unleashed energy from his body, causing the ground to shake and the sky to darken.

Mammoth Mogul, noticing the change in the sky, turned to Knuckles and gasped, along with all of his friends. There was a green echidna with his back turned to them standing there with a similar green energy emitting from him. He outstretched his hand, it glowed with chaos energy, and a butterfly flew out of it. He stood there for a moment and watched it flutter away, then turned to Mogul, with a deep, deep hatred in his eyes. At first, they were afraid that it was Eclipse all over again, but they were relieved when they saw his violet eyes, and the white guardian band. "What-what is this?!?!" Mogul shouted in horror. Knuckles pointed over at him and said, "This is your end. You die right now." Mogul took a few steps back, horrified. The power of Eclipse had been unleashed! His own power was nothing compared to this! Knuckles took a few steps forward, and as he walked, the rubber on the bottom of his shoes began to melt, until his shoes had eventually melted away. As he walked, the air around his crackled as sparks flew around him like small lightning flashes. Mogul couldn't avoid it. This was his end. He stopped in realization and chuckled. "You won't kill me. It will weight too heavy on your conscience that you had to kill again. You'll have to live with all the guilt." "No. No I won't," was the green echidna's reply. "You-You aren't serious!!!" Mogul stuttered as his eyes widened with horror.

In a split-second, Knuckles had upper cut Mogul high into the air, far above everyone else. Mogul regained his balance and began to panic. Suddenly, Knuckles appeared before him and rammed his bare hand into Mogul's gut. Mogul shouted in pain as he felt the spurs break his skin and the echidna's hand enter his gut. Knuckles began to scream as he concentrated energy in Moguls body, creating an energy ball in his hand. Mogul, through all the pain, began to yell, "NO! You fool! Entwining our two separate chaos energies will result in a giant explosion!!!" "Why else do you think I knocked you up here away from the others?!?!" Knuckles shouted as he let loose one final burst of energy inside Mogul.

There was a giant explosion that seemed to shake the planet itself. Then, from the explosion, the limp body of Knuckles the Echidna came falling to the ground. Julie-Su went running towards him, crying and screaming his name as he hit the ground. She knelt down next to him and lifted his head, afraid for the worst. A tear fell from he face and landed on his cheek, and he weakly half-opened his eyes. "H-Hey…there," he whispered with a smile on his face. She looked at him with great concern, but also a smile. "You're…You're okay. We're right in front of the hospital-We'll-" she began, until he put a finger to her lips. "No…Not this time. Can I…tell you something? I'm scared, Julie. I…don't wanna die," he whispered. Her eyes widened with horror as he said that. "No! No! You're gonna be fine! Please…it isn't fair," she said as she began to cry even more. "I know. It's like…there was always some force…trying to keep us apart. I'm just glad…I got to see you…one last time," he said as he moved his shaking hand up to her face. She took it in her hand and held it against her cheek as she stared down at him.

He looked behind her and saw their friends, standing in absolute silence. "Guess...this is good bye," he said with a smile as they fought back their tears. "S-Sonic…take care of everyone." Sonic nodded as he fought desperately to not cry. Knuckles turned to the Chaotix and said, "Guys…I need you to watch…after Julie for me. Promise?" They nodded as tears began to roll down their faces. "We promise, Knux," Vector replied. The dying echidna then turned to the Ravagers and chuckled. "You…did say you'd be there…for us. Thanks." None of the teens could find a reply as they stood there in silence. He looked at Shadow and said, "Shadow…me, Sonic and Tails are…supposed to be some kinda…trinity thing, so…I need you to…take my place." Shadow nodded and replied, "I will." "I just...want you…to know…that I love you all. Even though…we've had our…ups and downs during…the time we knew each other…even though we…only knew each other for…a little over…a year…even though my life was terrible…up to that point…it was worth it…to have a family…like you." They all flinched as the tears flowed more freely.

Knuckles looked down at Julie-Su's knees and saw his hat sitting there. He reached over, grabbed it, and gently placed it on her head. "Take care…of this old thing…for me." "Please don't die," she begged as she rubbed his hand against her cheek. "You are so, so beautiful. I'm…ashamed I couldn't say that to you until now. I'll always…be with you…no matter what. I love you…now…and forever," he whispered as he brushed her tears away with his thumb. "Could I have…one last request?" he asked her weakly, his voice cracking. She nodded, and he asked, "Could…you kiss me good bye?" She smiled as much as she could, leaned over and kissed him. The moment was so perfect, she never wanted it to end. Suddenly, he stopped kissing her as his head went limp, and his hand slid slowly down her face and onto the ground. The warm tingly feeling she had gotten faded away, and was left with a cold emptiness. She stared at him for a moment, then threw her arms around him, crying uncontrollably.

Mighty fell to his knees as he burst out crying. Sally threw her arms around Sonic, as Bunnie did with Antoine. Vector rested his forearm against a tree, placed his forehead against it, and stared at the ground as his tears rained down. Espio and Ray tried their best to comfort Mighty and Vector, but had trouble as they shed tears of their own. Rouge buried her face in her hands as she sobbed. Shadow just stared at Julie-Su, grasping onto Knuckles' unmoving form. Sonic couldn't cry. He was just too shocked. Tails tried to comfort Amy, only to find himself sobbing with her. Rotor removed his cap and held it in his hands as he closed his eyes. Cap trembled as he heard Julie-Su crying. They had gone to so much trouble to find him, and he died anyway. He didn't keep his promise. Vipes drew his sword stabbed it into the ground, and knelt down on his two knees as he muttered something in Japanese. Grim simply closed his eyes and muttered to himself. All the others could make out was, "Oh Lord, in all your infinite wisdom, show his the road to your holy gates and…" Freezie and Swiper hugged each other as Morph's frown sagged down to the ground. DJ hugged himself, trying to seek comfort. They were all crying, but Julie-Su's cries could be heard over all the others. Shadow glanced off to the side and saw Lara-Le, Locke, Wyn, and King Acorn rushing towards them, unaware of what they would discover. 'God…if there is a God…please don't let his mother die of a broken heart,' Shadow thought to himself as they drew closer. He then turned back to Julie-Su. 'His mother and his love.'


	5. FAREWELL

FAREWELL

Everyone was rather quiet as they entered the park and were seated. The only noise that could be heard was the sound of Lara-Le crying over the loss of her son. Among the guests were King Acorn and his family, the Brotherhood, the Freedom Fighters, Charmy Bee, the Ravagers, and the Chaotix. Espio glared over at the Brotherhood, wondering if they were here to mourn the loss of their descendant, or to contemplate over what to do now that the Guardian line was broken. But for now he didn't care. His good friend was dead. His thoughts should be with him.

It was a beautiful day, with the sun shining brightly and the flowers blossoming. Nobody really noticed, though. A small stage was built in a large clearing, with several rows of chairs opened before it. Around the park there were pedestrians who wanted to watch the proceedings. In front of the stage was the open casket, with his body lying in it. He was dressed in a black suit with a crimson red tie, which Locke couldn't tie right for some strange reason. He figured it was his son's restless spirit preventing him. They all stood as an elderly echidna walked onto the stage and stood before the microphone.

"We are here today to say good bye to one of Mobius' finest. Knuckles the Echidna, knight in the realm of Acorn, Guardian of the Floating Island and the Master Emerald, and beloved friend to many. He gave up his own life, so that we may live to see another day."

Locke was the first to go up. He had shed so many tears over the death of his son. He had lost his wife, and now he had lost their only son. All he had left now was the Brotherhood, which had only taken from him. He looked out at the crowd, took a deep breath, then began, "My son…my boy…did not deserve the life that was given to him. He was a pupil more than a son during his youth, and he spent many more years alone. I am sure you all have not forgotten the threat of Eclipse. I had thought long about it after it had happened, and I couldn't figure something out. Why did he wish to do me harm when he showed no signs of it before? Was my son perhaps…just a ruthless murderer? After much time, I came to a steady conclusion. Eclipse was not my son, and I am ashamed for ever thinking that. Eclipse was merely an explosion of suppressed emotions, which my son concealed for many years. These were the feelings of a little boy that wanted to get revenge for his loneliness. He blamed me for leaving him to fend for himself, and he blamed the world because the Great War took his only friend, Princess Acorn, away from him. I know that my son loved me, and I am ashamed for thinking otherwise. He would have rather given his own life than see others suffer…and he did just that. My son…my pride and joy…has made me the proudest father on the face of this Planet Mobius."

There was an applause as Locke stepped down from the stage. That was obviously hard for him. Lara-Le went up, assisted by Wyn. She had been rather weak lately, though there was no doubting the obvious reason to it. "I remember when I first held him in my arms when he was a little baby. He was so adorable…so playful and friendly. Although his duties required him to be 'tough', aside from that he remained as gentle as a newborn child. It broke my heart to see his go off with my ex-husband when he was still so young, but it was beyond me and my rights as a mother to keep him from his training. After many years, I saw him again, and I was so proud of him. He had grown into a polite, handsome young adult. My greatest regret is that my unborn child…'sniff'…will never know…it's big brother. He would have made such a great big brother. But…his younger sibling will only be able to hear stories and…'sob' see pictures…He was sixteen!!! Why did he have to die??? He never intended to hurt anyone! It was Dimitri, damn his blackened soul!!! Knuckles didn't deserve the guilt that rightfully belonged to that horrid echidna! If he suffered as much as he made my little boy suffer, it wouldn't be half enough of fair punishment!" she paused for a moment, walked down to the casket, and rubbed her hand against his cold cheek. "Mommy loves you, sweetie," she whispered. She turned away, threw herself into Wyn's arms, and began to cry.

She was applauded as the Ravagers went up as a whole. They gave their regards to Lara-Le as she passed by, and slowly made their way up the stage. They were still in costume, trying to keep their identities. Cap took a deep breath, then said, "We hadn't known him for that long, but it felt like we knew him for a lifetime. He was…a really great guy. I wish there were more out there like him. He never gave up, and fought hard to the very end, no matter how painful it would be. I hope…that wherever he is right now…he's happy. When we first met him, he was really out of it. Eclipse had done some damage up in his head. More than he even let on, I imagine. I was happy that we could help him with his problem. Grim and me tried to turn him to God, and I think that did help him some. I'm just glad to know that he isn't in pain anymore." He paused for a moment, then continued as he began to cry, "I promise Knux…that I will train harder than I've ever trained before. No more goofing off. Playtime's over. Now that you're gone…someone needs to step up. Might as well be me. For you, man. For you."

Cap took a step back, ad Grim stepped forward. "I just have one thing to say. Cap pretty much summed up everything about him. He was a good soul, and he shall be rewarded for it, by our Heavenly Father." He paused for a moment, looking down, then looked back up at them. "I am from the Netherworld, a land that knows not of warmth nor light. But, on certain occasions, there is the Divine Light. I have seen it. The gates to Heaven. It's amazing to behold. The dark clouds open, and a light leaks through, making grass grow and flowers blossom where there was once death and decay. Then the clouds open, and you see it. The gates are made of gold so vibrant, it shines like the sun, lined with snow white pearls that glisten like the stars." They all listened as he went on, absorbing everything he said. "Then the gate opens, and you can hear the chorus of angels, singing their angelic tunes. Those that have the fortune of entering at that point in time are then levitated towards the gates, and then you hear a voice, which says, 'Welcome home, child. Welcome home'. Surly he will be there waiting for us, as we make our own journey to these gates." He looked down at Knuckles' body, bowed with one knee, and said, "I make the same vow as Cap. I too will train, as I should have. Until we meet again." Each of them said their own little good byes, then slowly marched off the stage.

It was time for the Freedom Fighters to come up. Sally spoke of how she had come to meet him, and how they had had a secret friendship. She told of how they spent hours just looking up at the clouds and talking about just about anything. She began to cry as she spoke, apologized, and took a step back. Each of them came up with a little something to say, always saying something positive about his character and his actions.

Finally, it was time for Sonic to speak. He stepped up, took a deep breath and simply said, "I won't lie to anyone. I never liked him. I thought he was a big jerk." There was a little dismay as the crowd began to whisper back and forth. Everyone saw this as disrespectful. "Sonic!" Sally scolded, but the hedgehog simply said, "Oh, I'm not finished yet." He turned back to the crowd and continued. "He was always thought he was better than me, always playing hero, never looking for help, even when I offered it out of the kindness of my heart." Suddenly, tears began to build in his eyes as his voice cracked.  
"He was nothing but a big, stupid, idiotic…selfless…" Sonic growled in frustration and shouted, "I'M GONNA KILL YOU, YOU STUPID ECHIDNA!!!" as he rushed towards the casket. Everyone stood up as Mighty grabbed Sonic, who continued to yell at Knuckles' body. "STILL THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN ME, DON'T YOU?!?! I'M GONNA WIPE THAT SMIRK RIGHT OFF YOUR DAMN FACE!!! YOU HEAR ME?!?! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!!" "Sonic! Sonic, snap out of it! He's already dead, man…he's already dead…" Mighty said as he began to cry. Sonic fell to his knees and began to sob as tears flowed from his eyes. "I always thought you hated me…so I hated you back. But you never did…You envied me and my life…I always thought it was hate. Why didn't you tell me??? Why didn't you say something so I could have known??? So we could have been friends instead of at each other's throats??? WHY???" Sonic screamed as he went back to sobbing. Sally put her arms around him and took him back to his seat, where he silently cried for the remainder of the procession.

Finally the Chaotix came up with lowered heads. Mighty was the first to speak. "We've known him for a while now, and we've had the honor of calling him our friend. He was…the best friend I've ever had. 'Sniff' I'm gonna miss him so much…He cared so much about us…he was willing to give up his life for us. I'll never forget him for that. Now that the Island has no Guardian…and the Brotherhood is working that out, we'll be taking his duties for the time being. We did it before when he had to leave the Island, and we can certainly do it again. He did so much for us…so it's the least we could do for him." He looked over at the casket and said, "Well Knux…it was fun. We had quite an adventure…didn't we? You were my best friend…Sleep well, man."

Each of the Chaotix said a little bit, including Rouge and Shadow. Finally, Julie-Su stood in front of the microphone. Her cheeks were red from crying, and even now her eyes were very glossy.

"What is she doing here? This urchin should not be here. She disgraced his image in life, and she does not need to do so whilst he is dead," one of the High Council members whispered to another. Locke, overhearing this, went berserk, grabbed him, and threw him off to the side. Everyone present was astonished at Locke's sudden outburst. "How dare you?!?! If you have no respect for her you have no respect for my son!!! Leave now, or I'll make you wish you had!!!" The High Council board member, thoroughly offended, dusted himself off and left.

After everything had settled, Julie-Su finally began to speak. "…I don't know how I could have lived before I met him. He…brought so much happiness to my life. Even though I ruined his public image in the city…he didn't care. All he cared about was me. He wasn't very open, and he had trouble showing it, but I knew he cared. We…had some trouble along the way…which was both our faults…and…I lost faith in him. I kick myself now for ever thinking that way of him. I just wish that…that things could have worked out for us. But they never did. Like he said, it was like something was trying to keep us apart. I loved him…and I still do. When he died…a part of me went with him. I don't think I'll ever get over his death…" She began crying now, the audience enveloped with sorrow. "He made me feel like I was truly special. Like I was more than anything I could have pictured myself as…I'd do anything to see him one more time…just for a minute…so I can see his smile. Heh. His smile…It made him look so innocent. Like he had never done an immoral thing in his whole life. The kind of smile that says, 'Hey! What are you worrying about? You're with me, and I'm gonna take care of you. I'll make sure you're okay…Trust me'. Then there were his eyes. His big, violet eyes. If you looked into them like I have…you would feel like you were reading his heart. His feelings were right there. All right there…I'll never forget his laugh, either. It didn't take much to get him to laugh. You just needed to find the right spot under his cheek…hehe…he was really ticklish." The smile faded off of her face as she lowered her head. "I'll never see him smile again…never read his eyes…never hear him laugh…or even speak…He had such a beautiful, soft voice. Just hearing him speak was a pleasure to me. A pleasure I'll never have again." She hugged herself and rocked from side to side, as more tears rolled down her face. "Sometimes when I close my eyes…I can still feel his strong arms around me…and I can hear his voice saying, 'What's wrong? Is something bothering you? I'm here for you'. 'Sob' It's just not fair…"

At that moment, it began to pour rain. Although they were getting soaked, no one moved. They just sat there in silence as their tears mixed with the rain. Fortunately there was a small tent over the coffin, in case it rained that day, and Knuckles' body was left dry. Randy stood up and looked up into the sky and said "Behold! The angels let forth their tears of sorrow and lament, for they know he was a good soul, and he did not deserve such a fate!"

A vigorous hunt for Dimitri was put underway not too long after the funeral. He was running out of time and hiding places. He would soon be found and have to pay for his horrible crimes. However, even if he was found, even if he was made to suffer, everyone knew it wouldn't bring Knuckles back. It wouldn't stitch up the scars. He was gone, and nothing they did would ever change that.


	6. GATHERING KNOWLEDGE

GATHERING KNOWLEDGE

They all ran through the entrance as the wind blew vigorously outside. It seemed as if the weather was getting worse ever since it began raining at the funeral, which was a day before. Knuckles' cave was left the same from when they last saw it. However, it seemed to have a gloomier air about it. Like something was missing, when in fact, something-or rather someone-was. They had come here for one specific reason: to learn about the friend they had lost.

"Wow! I didn't know he had a Bat cave!" DJ said as he took in his surroundings. "It's not a Bat cave! It's an echidna cave," Swiper corrected. "It's not anything like that! It was his home!" Vector said to settle them. "Why are we here again?" Morph asked. "Even though we were his friends, we still didn't know that much about him. We're hoping that maybe we can find something out here," Sally answered as they came into his room. There wasn't much in it. Just a hand-made bed, a dresser, and a large bookshelf. They stood there for a minute, then decided to begin their search. "I appreciate you guys staying a little longer with us. I know you must have to get back home…" Julie-Su said quietly to the Ravagers as they spread out with the others. "He was our friend too…and you're all our friends. Friends do things for each other, so it's really nothing. Just doin' the right thing," Vipes said as he picked up a book on the shelf.

Julie-Su wiped some water off of 'her' hat and placed it back on her head. She wore it everywhere now. She opened up the top drawer of his dresser and froze. It was the picture of him and her from his birthday. She picked it up with tears in her eyes and stared at it, remembering how happy they were. Rouge placed her hand on her echidna friend's shoulder and asked, "You sure you wanna do this?" Julie-Su nodded as she dried her eyes and began to look around.

"Wow. Look at it all," they heard DJ say as he looked in a book. "What is it?" Mighty asked. "He's got the biggest collection of Poe's books I've ever seen. My library at the mansion doesn't have half as many." "Poe?" Vector asked, having never picked up a book in his life, besides the regular 'magazine'. "Edgar Allen Poe. He was a writer. He was…kind of a…a crazy guy," DJ replied. "How so?" "His work was mostly about horror and the occult, loaded with blood, and usually very horrifying. Just the way he wrote it made me think the guy wasn't well in the head." There was a silence for quite a while, and no one moved. "Dimitri…did once say that Knux wasn't all together in his head…Maybe he wasn't pullin' our legs. Maybe Knux was a bit messed up," Sonic muttered.

They looked through every book in the shelf. Nothing but books. No journals, no records, nothing. "'Sigh'. I was hoping to learn something about him," Julie-Su said quietly as they got ready to leave. "Hold!" Vipes said as her froze while walking past the bookshelf. He motioned for F.C. to come next to him, and the mage did so. "What is it, old friend?" he whispered to the young ninja. "Take your hand…and slowly move it forward about six inches ahead of you." F.C. did so, and moved his hand curiously through the air. "What is going on?" Shadow asked as he too stepped forward. "There is a soft wind current in the air…and it's coming from the bookcase," Vipes said as he turned to the shelf. DJ ran a x-ray scan and said, "Yep. There's something behind it." This was strange. What did he have to hide that he would keep it behind a bookcase? Cap and Mighty looked at each other and nodded as the each took one end of the shelf and moved it, revealing a long, dark passage. "Creepy…" Freezie said in a high-pitched voice. At first, no one motioned to go in. "Guys…if we do this…we can't go back…and we might not like what we find," Espio said. Julie-Su took a deep breath and said, "No. I have to learn about him. Learn what he never told anyone. It's all down there, and that's where I'm going."

Grim created a fireball in his hand and led the way as they slowly walked down the passage. It was cold in there, and they were rather cramped for room. "You know, this is like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, where they find the passage and there's the evil Indian guys, and the guy rips the other guys heart out and gets dipped into lava, and they get caught trying to escape and-" "DJ…You aren't making this any less creepy. Please stop," Grim said as he stared DJ in the face. "Oh. Okay." They continued a few more steps, and DJ began rambling again, "Or it's like The Goonies, where the kids find the map and they're in the tunnel with the booby traps and they're being chased by the Mafia people and they find the big, tall, freaky guy that yells 'HEY YOU GUYS!!!'" "SHUT UP!!!" Grim yelled aS 'GUYS!!!'echoed through the passage. He shook his head in astonishment and turned as he took a deep breath. "There's the end…praise the Lord."

They stepped out of the hall into a large room, they looked around, but still couldn't see anything. Antoine found a small fireplace, which Grim lit. When the room was lit up by the fire, they knew they had found what they wanted. "L-look," Ray said as he pointed to a shelf filled with books. Julie-Su picked one up and smiled. "We did it. These are his journals."

She chuckled and said, "Listen to this:

Today I met a squirrel named Sally. She's the Princess of Mobius. At first I thought she was a snob, but she's actually really nice. I've never had a friend before, because I'm not supposed to, but it's nice to finally have one. She's really pretty, too. I hope that we become really good friends."

Sally smiled as her eyes watered. "Aww…'Sniff'. That's so cute!" Sally reached onto the shelf and picked up another journal. "Check this one out:

Today was crazy. I was minding my own business, practicing my meditation, when this Legionnaire tries to jump me. Turns out he was a she. Her name is Julie-Su. She said she had to find me, but didn't know why (To kill me, perhaps?). Anyway, I was kind of a jerk to her. She wanted to get away from the Legion and I treated her like she was still one of them. I have had a lot on my back lately, but I really should have treated her better. I'll have to make it up to her somehow. She doesn't seem to know anyone, so maybe we can be friends or something. Just to note, she is absolutely beautiful. I should be so lucky she would want a shmuck like me as a friend. But hey, only those who try are rewarded. Anyway, back to the craziness of the day…"

Julie-Su closed her eyes and remembered back to that day. She sighed at the thought of him finding her attractive way back then. "Check this! It's a photo album," Amy said as they gathered around. There were pictures from all periods in his life. When he was a kid, when they became friends, there was even a big group picture of all of them that was taken before they left Station Square. He must have gone here before he was kidnapped.

"Woah…" Morph said as he flipped through another journal.

"I have to wake up now. Dad isn't coming back. It's been two months now. Where is he? Why did he just leave me? I just don't get it. He has some ability to use the ME to help him out, so no one could have killed him. Did he just leave me here? Why? Did I do something wrong? Was I a bad son? Did he not love me? Did he love someone else more?"

They all stood in silence as Morph turned the page and read another section.

"I almost did it today. I almost killed myself. I was gonna use my spurs to kill myself quick, but I decided to jump off the Island. If I hit my head on the water, I would be knocked out and die without knowing it. I was so close to doing it. I was on the edge, about to jump, took a deep breath and counted to three, but I fell to my knees and cried instead. Why is this happening to me? I don't wanna die, but I don't wanna live like this. It's so lonely up here…it's been years since I spoke to someone. I'm willing to talk to anyone. I don't care who. Just to talk to someone. I hate you, Dad, for leaving me here like this."

"That's…really heavy," Sonic said as they all nodded slightly in agreement. He obviously didn't want anyone to find these. After searching for a little longer, Vector walked up to Julie-Su and held out a journal to her. "I…think he'd want you to have this." She stared at him for a moment, took the journal. She opened it and couldn't believe it. The entire journal was about her. It was filled with thoughts, pictures, and entries. What really surprised her was the fact that there were poems and songs, and even a few hand drawn pictures, which were really good. All of her. All about her. She just stared tearfully in awe as she flipped through the pages. She closed it up and clutched it tightly against her chest. He really had cared about her. She really had meant something to him. This was too much to take at once. She ran. Without saying a thing, she ran out of the room and down the dark passage. She heard the others call out to her, but she didn't answer them. She just kept running and running. She ran out of the cave, out into the woods, until she finally stopped to catch her breath. When she looked up, she saw a familiar pond in front of her.

_"Where are we going?" "Don't worry. It's just a little farther." "Knuckles, what's up with you?" "Nothing. We're here. Now take off the blindfold." "Wow." "Yeah. When the fireflies come out at night the pond looks really cool." "Cool? It's beautiful." "It's not the only thing here that's beautiful." "…Thanks."_

She was so happy that night. It was the first time anyone had ever called her beautiful. Sure there was the ever-occurring "Hey Hottie" back when she was in the Legion, but that always came from some self-worshiping jerk, or some pervert looking for a wild night. But Knuckles had been different. He had made her feel like a lady. And now he was gone. It was too much. She had a thought and looked up at the waterfall high above the pond. She slowly walked up the side of the cliff and looked down. She placed the journal on the ground and stepped onto the edge. 'I can't do it. I can't go one without you. With this cold feeling in my heart. At least we'll be together this way.' She closed her eyes and jumped.

It was weird. She knew she was going to die, but she didn't care. She only thought of seeing him. Slowly, the darkness began to overcome her. Suddenly, she felt someone's arms around her and pull her towards the surface. When they broke surface, her rescuer began to pull her towards shore. She wanted to scream at whoever was saving her. She didn't want to be saved. But she couldn't speak. She was hardly clinging onto consciousness, and there was too much water in her lungs. She felt someone lie her out on the shore and breathe into her mouth to give her air. She felt a surge of water coming up her throat and began coughing it up. She started gasping loudly and turned to her rescuer, only to gasp in shock.

This couldn't be real. It just couldn't. Because there he was. He was soaked from the rescue, and he was a little out of breath, but there he was. "Kn-Knuckles?" she asked, looking up at him. He nodded, not saying a word. She looked into his eyes and saw that he was crying. His face and his tears made him look like a little boy who had just had a beloved pet die. "Why are you crying?" He didn't answer. He just stared at her with his big, tearful eyes. She felt her eyes water as she threw her arms around him. "Please!Don't cry! What's wrong?" she sobbed. "I died so that you could live," he said just above a whisper. She looked up at him, tearfully. "But I want to be with you." He brushed her wet hair away from her eyes and replied, "And I wanna be with you…but I can't. I want you to live…and be happy." "I can't be happy without you. You died a month ago and I still can't get you out of my mind. I love you." He smiled and said, "Well, there's your solution." She looked at him, confused as to what he meant. "Love never dies. I love you, and therefore, I'll always be with you." She smiled at him, and how romantic he was being. "I have to go, now," he said, causing her eyes to water again. "No, please! Don't-" she began, until he put a finger to her lips, put his hands on the sides of her face, and kissed her. All she could do was enjoy the moment, and close her eyes...

She felt something shaking her, and she slowly opened her eyes. She looked up and saw all of her friends gathered around her. She quickly sat up and looked around, he wasn't there. She looked at herself to see that she was soaked, and 'her' hat lying next to her as damp as she was. Had it happened? She looked up at them, and quickly received a slap to the face. She put her hand on her red cheek and looked up at Sally. "What the hell is wrong with you?!?! Do you think he'd want you to go kill yourself over him?!?! He wanted you to live!!! I've already lost one friend, I don't want to lose another!!!" Sally shouted, half crying at the same time. She fell on her knees beside Julie-Su and began crying. Julie-Su, feeling bad, put her arms around Sally to comfort her. "I'm sorry, Sal."

"Did you swim to shore on your own?" Swiper asked. Julie-Su looked up at him in shock. "You mean you guys didn't save me?" "No. We found you here unconscious." She couldn't believe it. He _had_ saved her. "Guys…I think he saved me." They all looked at each other, and then at her. "Julie-Su…It's a nice thought that he did, but he-" "No! He really did! I saw him! He pulled me to shore and spoke to me!" She paused for a moment and went on, "He told me that he would always be with me, and that love never dies." "Hun, maybe you were hallucinatin' er somethin'," Bunnie said. "Or maybe…she has a Guardian…Guardian watching over her," Grim remarked. "Maybe…" Mighty said.

Time went by, and not too much changed. The Ravagers had gone back to Station Square, the Freedom Fighters returned to the Kingdom of Acorn, and the Chaotix took up the Guardian's duties. The weather had been very strange since his death, some six months past, with weird storms blackening the sky.

Mighty was doing his usual route, passing through the cemetery as he did every Sunday. The tombstone had not changed. It was a very nice stone. It simply read:

**Here Lies **

**KNUCKLES THE ECHIDNA**

**Brave Son of Edmund**

**Protector of Peace and Friend to All**

"What's up, bro? Things are going alright here. Weather's been weird, though. Haven't seen the sky in days. Anyway, guess what? Remember stuttery ol' Ray? He doesn't stutter anymore. He's real happy about it. Espio is being Espio, quiet and out of the way. Vector, he's the one that's changed the most. He's been treating Julie-Su real nice. Crazy, huh? He's treating her like a sister or somethin'. Julie-Su…she's still real upset over you. I know it's been a while, and you supposedly came to her, but she's still out of it. I see her come by here every day. I try to, but I'm always too busy. Me? I'm alright. I just…I just miss you, man. We all do." He started crying, but felt comforted as someone placed their hand on his shoulder. "I'm always here to pick you up," Ray said with as big a smile as he could muster. Espio appeared out of thin air and threw in, "Same goes for me." "N' me," Vector said as he walked towards them. They looked out and saw Julie-Su coming towards them. She looked no different, except for the hat she wore. It was his hat, the one he had given her. "His mom does a nice job with the flowers," she said as she stood beside them. "Yeah. Red and violet, with a few whites in there. Just like him," Espio replied. Julie-Su had felt better since she'd 'seen' him, but every day it seemed harder and harder to get along. Her heart only became heavier. But she would live through the pain…for him. "You okay, Jewel?" Vector said to her, using a nickname he had given her. "Don't laugh, Knux! I told ya he was treatin' her good!" Mighty said, chuckling. "Mighty…he isn't really-" "No. Don't," Julie-Su said, interrupting Ray, "I like his laugh." They all smiled and looked down at the grave. "Yeah. Us too," Mighty said.

"It is happening, Locke. All of the prophecies are coming true. The weather-" "I realize this, father. I had hoped this would have passed over us, but we will have to endure it." "Endure it? How??? This is-" "I know well what it is! It's bad enough I have to lose my only son, but now I have to deal with this!" "Locke…the lad loved you." "I know. And he would have gladly led the charge into this, but…he can't now. I will contact King Acorn. We have to make preparations."

King Acorn looked out his window at the black, cloudy sky. 'It is happening. May the Walkers be with us.'

"F.C.! Are you okay, my friend?" "Vipes! It's unbelievable!" "What?" "The positive-negative energy flow of the planet! The imbalance is huge! It wasn't this great when Eclipse had arisen!" "What is it? What is this new evil?" "I don't know…but it is unlike anything we've ever encountered." "How off-balance is the positive-negative energy flow?" "To make it clear for you, if the total energy was the air around the whole planet, I could hold the positive energy in the palm of my hand."

**Author's Note:** Gotta give credit where it's due! I am SO good at leaving you all in suspense. The next story will have you on the edge of your seat, laughing, crying, shivering, eating a slice of pizza...Yeah. I won't give too much away, but it's a little something I call 'The Chaose Tournament', and it will includetwo new fan character of mine (Don't worry. He isn't at all as crazy as the Ravagers!) Well, gotta go! Later!


End file.
